Sosh residents want ‘dangerous’ land
Residents of Block L in Soshanguve want to occupy land that they say bring them trouble.
Horrendous crimes committed on a piece of vacant land near the Mabopane freeway has prompted residents to occupy that space.
A a number of bodies has been discovered in recent times. On Wednesday, a young woman was found dead in the area.
“I found the body when we and other people were busy moving stones and getting rid of overgrown grass,” said Koketso Kokhutja.
“We noticed a black plastic bag which we thought was filled with heavy rocks. But to our surprise it was a body of a woman,”
Kokhutja said the land the group wanted to occupy was never used by government, only by residents as a dumping site.
“Now, when we want to build our shacks and homes, we are told by the councillor this land is set aside for a park.
Kokhutja said it was strange that only now plans of building a park were coming forward.
“How can they tell us about building a silly park, when we need land to build on?” asked Kokhutja.
“We have enough parks which they (councillors and the Tshwane metro) are failing to keep clean.”
The land grabbers said it was in their right to occupy the land.
“We have every right to be here with our families because there is so much land just vacant that we can put into good use,” said Marry Ngoveni, a resident.
Ngoveni is a mother of three and is currently unemployed.
“I cannot afford to buy land when the money I receive is only little and I have to use it to buy food for my children,” said Ngoveni.
Mkhulu Sello Matabane (61) said he would not buy any piece of land as it belonged to them.
“Why should I waste my money when there are so many pieces of land which remain unoccupied and are bringing us problems in the community?” asked the pensioner.
There had been people in Soshanguve who had been selling land to squatters but Kokhutja said no one would pay to build on the land.
Kokhutja said: “Most of the invasions have taken place in Tshwane on either privately-owned land … and in some of the areas people are still trying to move in.”
Tshwane metro could not be contacted by the time of publication.
